HOW TO EVALUATE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND BUILD SCALABLE VENTURES
Syllabus
Credits: Image made with MidJourney
Description
In an ever-changing world, where the speed of innovation and the amount of external forces and drives is constantly growing, the capability to quickly evaluate opportunities and innovate is paramount for the creation of successful businesses.
The Business Innovation Seminar is designed to provide students from architecture and design backgrounds the key understanding of what makes a project a viable business idea, how to analyze markets and industries, how to validate ideas early on and how to iterate and innovate on business models to build the basis for an economically sustainable venture. Based on the Lean Methodology and mixing together theory, real-life examples, practical exercises and 1-1 feedback, it gives students a toolbox and a mental mindset to approach opportunities during their professional careers as well as the foundations to set up a business.
All the content will be directly applied by students on a final Venture Starting Package, that will be presented during a final pitch.
Learning Objectives
The aim of the seminar is to provide students with the tools to understand and evaluate business opportunities based on their own research projects. It provides a framework to analyze ideas, tools and references to understand the market and guidelines on how to understand whether a venture can be successfully created. The core competencies are complemented with an introduction to business model innovation and practical exercises.
At course completion the student will:
- Learn how to evaluate business opportunities
- Understand and apply the concept of Product Market Fit
- Understand and apply the concept of Unit Economics
- Recognize the core elements of a successful venture
- Develop and Iterate on a Business Model for a specific idea
Keywords
Business Model, Business Model Innovation, Lean Startup, Product Market Fit, Unit Economics, Business Angels, Venture Capital.
Faculty
Faculty Assistants
Projects from this course
DESIGN FLEX
Website Link – https://www.figma.com/proto/NxJwLJw7ZcS9RPf7b0JLMH/DesignFlex?page-id=191%3A2&node-id=191-3&viewport=1394%2C-977%2C0.55&t=NuYCmGfdDFMOsCxY-1&scaling=contain&content-scaling=fixed&starting-point-node-id=191%3A3
Paramorph Furniture
Context Architecture, in general, is the least optimized industry. This results in more workload and less output. Hence the productivity rate is negative 1.4. In the furniture industry, even loose or modular furniture, typically expected to have quicker turnaround times faces significant delays due to the manual nature of customization and the complexity of matching … Read more
‘COMPound’ – Revolutionizing Access to Credit
‘The project envisions the use of novel data collection strategies for the purpose of increasing access to formal credit for MSMEs in the F&B Space. Across the globe, cities face a pivotal challenge: unlocking the potential of their micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to drive both urban transformation and national economic growth. These enterprises, … Read more
ROBOTS AS ADVERTISING AGENTS
Abstract The project “Robots as Advertising Agents” explores the integration of robotics in the advertising industry to create dynamic, interactive, and memorable brand experiences. As advertising shifts toward experiential and engaging methods, robots equipped with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, sensors, and communication systems can act as captivating agents that interact with audiences in … Read more
BUSINESS INNOVATION
Introduction The global housing crisis highlights the urgent need for affordable, sustainable, and inclusive housing solutions worldwide, Rapid urbanization, rising costs, and unequal access to resources have left millions without adequate housing. A lack of affordable housing options is deepening social inequality in cities across the globe. How Global Housing prices have changed since 2010 … Read more
Bespoke/F
Pitch Deck – Estudio Ona
Supply Chain Opportunity to Solve The immense volume of organic waste generated by Brazil’s agricultural and food industries, including residues from cocoa, açaí, Brazil nuts, passion fruit, cupuaçu, buriti, and murumuru, represents a significant untapped resource. These byproducts, often discarded without proper utilization, contribute to environmental challenges and economic losses. Many of the companies highlighted, … Read more
Roomies
Roomies is a peer to peer members only network to that makes it easy for students, interns or travelers to find short term rentals and swap rooms in big cities like Barcelona. The Challenge Finding affordable housing in major cities is challenging. In Barcelona, the rental market has become increasingly difficult, with housing costs skyrocketing … Read more
PHYGITAL3D : Bridging Imagination and Fabrication
A web based application focused on leveraging, generative AI to develop, images to 3D mesh, and then fabricate them at printing facilities, offering efficient prototyping and hassle free translation of designs to reality! , with the aid of toolkit, fostering the latest models and technology
